Pumpkin season!
WorkJoy
Welcome to my monthly blog and what I have been up to!
I have the opportunity to work with MasterCard which is fantastic news, the participants will come to KitchenJoy for a Good Mood Foods class next month. They wanted a unique menu and of course I wanted it to be seasonal. So on arrival, participants will be welcomed with a wasabi & watercress dip with homemade rye bread, followed by a autumnal restorative soup. For the main course a Korean bbq Seitan stir fry with herbed three grains, freekah, red rice & quinoa, seasonal roasted veggies with maple syrup & balsamic dressing. Dessert has to be something with pumpkin of course! The pumpkin pies are easy to make and delicious as per the recipe below.
I did a wine pairing evening, which was fun where the menu was tapas, so the wine’s were all Spanish. A wine expert come in to conduct this part, so a lot of interesting facts and unusual wines and including a dessert wine. We were spoilt with the menu of sticky garlic squid served with pink sparking Cava, chicken black rice paella with a white Rioja, smoky meatballs with black pudding & Beronia wine, chorizo in red wine with a red Rioja, Tarta de Santiago with a dessert wine, and finally Manchego cheese drizzled with rosemary honey + walnuts with another red!
I made some matcha green tea cookies with chocolate chips for a Japanese class that I have coming up. You could really taste the green tea aspect but lovely with choc chips in too!
I spent some time replenishing my live wall ready to take it through the winter with lots of ferns and ivy. Very therapeutic planting all the pods and seeing them transform and grow on the wall.
KitchenJoy
This month has been one of my busiest on record. So back to back classes at the school on good mood foods, gut health, vegan, gluten free, FODMAP and chocolate for starters!
I also did an online good mood foods (becoming very popular for corporate) for a sports streaming video co from Denmark. We made vegan pumpkin bread, which is slightly sweet but made with lots of cooked/steamed pumpkin and oats and just a little maple syrup. Ideally toasted, with nut butter or even served with avocado. I demonstrated pea, za-atar and feta fritters, which are similar to Ottolenghi style and easy peasy to make and have as snacks or for lunch with salad. And lovely moist avocado brownies to finish off with.
Not my normal thing, but I did a children’s 13th birthday party which was so much fun and a bit messy in a really good way! I thought it was a good idea to start with m&m cookies as they bake really quickly and then the girls can eat these whilst prepping the Oreo chocolate brownies. I pre made a 3 layer rainbow sponge cake so the girls could assemble it and then it was decorated with a pink butter icing, lots of sprinkles, sparkles and marshmallows all over! It looked amazing and the birthday girl took this home. A good time had by all…..
Please contact me for more details if you are interested in any other types of medicinal cookery classes or 121 tuition. This also applies to online private cookery classes and team work building sessions.
SocialJoy
Now its Autumn, where the nights get longer but we can have some super sunny crisp days, and is in fact my favourite season. I am also doing sober October, which runs nicely into my retreat that I have been on recently. I have also upped my exercise also to fit into the retreat plan whilst I am there and am on top of my game.
The retreat was in Devon, where we had to detox a week before arriving, which meant no alcohol, coffee or sugar. All the meals were nutritionally balanced with protein, good carbs and veggies. Lectures every morning on subjects such as emotional eating and mindful living. There is always much more knowledge out there to expand on and lots of reading on books recommended by the lecturers there. Lots of different exercise classes throughout the day, from boxing, long walks, weights, to belly dancing ! There were x18 people on the week’s course and typically more women than men but we were all like minded and good to share stories and support each other. A good reset for coming up to the festive season :)
Lots of downtime after the retreat to relax and dog walks, apart from a few theatre trips which I am so pleased we can now go and see some wonderful performances.
Spicy Pumpkin Pies
Serves 4
Ingredients for the batter
1 large size pumpkin (600-800g) or 240g pumpkin puree
60g butter (room temp)
6 tbsp almond flour
20 chopped dates
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
Pinch sea salt
1 tsp baking powder
For the spice mix
4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
4 tsp nutmeg
3 tsp allspice
Method
Preheat oven to 180C. Pierce the pumpkin a few times with a sharp knife and then place on a baking tray. Bake for 20 mins and then slice with a sharp knife. Place the two halves back in the oven, flesh side up, and cook for a further 40 mins or until soft, opening the oven every now and again to allow the steam to escape. Allow the pumpkin to cook, then remove the seeds and save these for roasting later. Peel the skin from the pumpkin flesh or scoop out the flesh. Discard the stringy parts if necessary. Place the flesh in a food processor and puree or mash by hand, it can be kept in the fridge for up to four days.
To make the pudding weigh out 240g of pumpkin puree and whisk in the rest of the ingredients. If your butter is cold, you can melt it in a pan and then add a little at a time so as not to cook the egg. Pour the mixture into four glass or porcelain ramekins and place on a tray in the oven for 35-40 minutes. Serve immediately for a risen finish. Delicious with Greek yoghurt!
. 🙂
Enjoy ……..
